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The study explores the impact of people-centered Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) on Supply Chain Performance (SCP). It also aims to reinforce the importance of people in an organization’s survival, particularly from a knowledge-based perspective, by empirically assessing the mediating effect of knowledge sharing on people-centered KMS and SCP. The model being assessed incorporates people-centered KMS that promote knowledge sharing and therefore improve SCP within Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME) in developing countries, leading to their extended life span.

The study developed a knowledge-based SCP model using people-centered KMS as a predictor variable and knowledge sharing as a mediating variable, with SCP as the outcome variable. The data were collected from a sample of 580 SME owners from across Zimbabwe via a questionnaire developed based on validated constructs available in literature that was vetted through a pilot survey before distribution. The dataset was subsequently tested for validity of constructs and scales and analyzed using multiple regression.

The results of the study showed significant influence of three people-centered KMS, namely, Communities of Practice (CoP), Innovation Management (IM) and Organizational Culture (OC), on knowledge sharing but not from Social Capital. Thereafter, significant influence was also found of knowledge sharing on three process-based measures of SCP, namely, Time-Related Performance (TRP), Cost-Related Performance (CRP) and Responsiveness-Related Performance (RRP), but not on Operational Quality-Related Performance (OQRP). Thus overall, it was confirmed that people-centered KMS has a salutary impact on process-based SCP, with knowledge sharing serving as a significant mediator.

The study makes a novel contribution to the extant literature by providing insight into how people-centered KMS impacts SCP through knowledge sharing. Additionally, the geographical scope of the study also makes it among the few that have studied supply chain management within the context of developing economies, especially those that face significant economic pressures, such as Zimbabwe. Finally, given the criticality of SMEs to the economic growth in developing economies juxtaposed with the low survival rates of SMEs therein, the study reveals a relatively low-cost strategy of knowledge sharing among supply chain partners as a valid strategy to improve the SCP of these SMEs in an effort to enhance their survival rates. The primary limitation of the study relates to potential difficulty in the generalizability of findings because data were collected from a single country.

The original contributions of the study include: utilizing a people-centered knowledge management perspective, an establishment of the relationship between KMS on SCP and demonstrating the salience of knowledge sharing as a mediator; addressing the dearth of literature on supply chain management in developing economies, especially those with stressed economies; demonstrating the usefulness of knowledge sharing as a relatively low-cost but effective strategy to improve the performance of SMEs in a developing economy and thus lead to higher survival rates, thus providing a tool that can be used by the public and the private sector in developing countries to build structures for successful economic development.

Highway signage programs are important to the success of winery tourism industry. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the regulatory environment US wineries operate under in regards to highway signage programs. The goal then is to compare wine tourism-related highway signage programs in the USA and identify best practices for the programs.

Twenty-six programs from 13 US states are included in this study. Research collected both primary data (through interviews with 30 officials and representatives) and secondary data (from websites, government publications) to identify the costs, regulations and rules of each program.

A review of these programs shows that while there are many common elements in these programs, all are managed differently, have different operational and facility requirements for participation and vary in cost.

Highway signage programs related to winery tourism are best administered by a single state-wide governmental agency or foundations/trusts. Second, highway signage program should link with a separate certification program for the wineries which guarantees a certain minimum amount of local content. Winery owners and officials interviewed also emphasized the need for synergy among neighboring wineries to facilitate winery tourism.

Limited research has been conducted about the regulatory environment of signage programs that are specific to the wine industry in the USA. This study begins to address this gap in the literature by presenting an overview and best practices of 26 wine tourism-related highway signage programs from 13 different states across the USA.

Interferences to supply chains (SC), regardless of whether they are regular, unplanned or intentional, are progressively distorting SC execution. As such, risk mitigation in SCs has received sufficient attention in the academic literature. However, there is scant research done on this topic within the African context, and none on the SC of electrical energy on that continent. In an effort to address this gap, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the SC department of Eskom, the primary utility company of South Africa and one of the largest on the continent.

Adopting a non-probability sampling approach utilising the purposive sampling technique to choose the sampling components from the target population, data were collected through semi-structured interviews as well as additional documentation in various forms. Data interpretation and codification thereof were done using ATLAS.ti 8 from which ten themes emerged.

The ten themes that emerged from the analysis of data show that SC risks emanate from value streams, information and affiliations, SC activities and external situations. Furthermore, these are brought into relief within the African context through examples and quotes from Eskom managers.

Based on the findings, the paper makes five major recommendations that would broadly apply not only to SC risk management (SCRM) in Eskom, but also other African utility companies.

Companies in emerging economies such as South Africa and other Sub-Saharan countries face a unique set of challenges with regards to SCRM. Some of these are identified in this paper and appropriate recommendations have been made.

Being the largest utility provider in Africa, services offered by Eskom are vital for economic development of South Africa as well as neighbouring countries. As such, the findings of this paper as well as the recommendations have social implications for economic development in that country as well as the region.

While SC risk management has been studied extensively in the academic literature, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that attempts to study it within the context of South Africa with focal emphasis on one of the largest corporations in that country.

Division of motor vehicle (DMV) offices serve a wide swath of Americans in all states and can therefore serve as excellent vehicles to study the quality of public services in the country. However, relatively little attention has been devoted in the academic literature to studying operations in DMV offices, especially as it relates to service quality and productivity. In an attempt to address the same, this paper aims to present the results of a study of DMV offices across the USA through a nationwide survey about vehicle titling and registration services, that received response from 31 of the 50 states and District of Columbia.

The authors use a mixed methods approach – a sequential unequal weight mixed methods approach starting with a quantitative analysis of DMV operational data followed by a qualitative case study approach. The primary data collected for this study were with a nationwide survey of the highest DMV office in each state, conducted through the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Out of the 50 states, 31 states and District of Columbia responded to the survey. In addition to descriptive statistical analysis performed to glean nationwide findings, Data Envelopment Analysis was used to determine efficiency of operations. Finally, extensive in-person interviews with senior managers of DMV offices in Ohio and Indiana were conducted to get more in-depth information for case studies and identification of best practices.

States exhibit significant variations in labor and capital productivity and based on Data Envelopment Analysis, Texas and Minnesota DMVs are the most efficient in terms of using their labor and capital inputs to maximize the number of transactional services rendered. The authors also find that while operational performance of vehicle titling and registration services is monitored by most DMV offices across the nation, assessment of customer satisfaction received much less attention. Among the states that do well on both are Indiana and Ohio; the case studies presented based on interviews with their officials that also identify best practices.

This research was limited to the USA as are its findings. Additionally, it focuses only on vehicle titling and registration at DMV offices because that represents the bulk of services performed by a DMV and the output is standard across all states. Nonetheless, a future study should be extended to other DMV services.

Given the finding that assessment of customer satisfaction is not widely practiced in DMV offices, DMV officials should address this by putting appropriate systems in place. Additionally, practitioners and state officials can use the findings of this study to develop best practices for their operations and also determine the most appropriate ways to structure the provision of those services that result in enhanced efficiencies and customer satisfaction.

DMV services are among the most widely used services offered by the government in the USA and the overall size and scope of services provided by them across the country is immense. Thus, any improvements in productivity and service quality has significant implications in terms of improving public satisfaction with government services.

To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first nationwide comparative study of DMV offices in the USA that focuses on service quality and analyzes productivity across the states. Additionally, the case study provided at the end of the paper identifies best practices from two states that have received national recognition for service quality which could be adopted by all DMV offices across the USA. The findings also conform/strengthen numerous hypotheses espoused in existing models and theories from service operations literature by providing evidence in their favor.